Exposing a blind spot

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By

Sen. John McCain had one goal in mind when his turn came to question Gen. David Petraeus about the Iraq war: to show Sen. Barack Obama didn't understand the dire threat al Qaeda posed to that country's survival.

After some preliminary questions before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week about the performance of Iraqi forces and the threat to the Green Zone by rocket attacks from Sadr City, Mr. McCain began a series of inquiries about al Qaeda's role in the war.

"There are numerous threats to security in Iraq and the future of Iraq. Do you still view al Qaeda in Iraq as a major threat?" the Arizona Republican asked the war commander.

"It is still a major threat, though it is certainly not as major a threat as it was, say, 15 months ago," Gen. Petraeus replied.

"Certainly not an obscure sect of the Shi'ites," Mr. McCain said, then quickly correcting himself about the Sunni-dominated terrorist force, "or Sunnis or anybody else?"

"No," Gen. Petraeus answered.

"Al Qaeda continues to try to assert themselves in Mosul, is that correct? Mr. McCain asked. "It is, senator," the four-star general responded, adding, "Mosul and Nineveh Province are areas that al Qaeda is very much trying to hold on to."

Attempting to further nail down the point, Mr. McCain asked again, "They continue to be a significant threat?"

"They do. Yes, sir," Gen. Petraeus responded.

Though he never mentioned the Democratic presidential front-runner by name, Mr. McCain wanted to dismantle one of Mr. Obama's chief contentions regarding the war: that there is no serious al Qaeda threat in Iraq in terms of a military infrastructure with command centers, bases, etc., and it is time to begin a full withdrawal of all combat forces there.